The farm bill: A Dickens tale

In negotiations, both parties put the best light on the prospects for a deal this year. | AP Photo

For example, Stabenow appears determined to preserve the “categorical eligibility” flexibility given to states in administering SNAP. But the field could be narrowed by requiring a minimum asset test or capping the income thresholds allowed.

Indeed a proposal by freshman Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.), which sets a national gross income standard of 160 percent of poverty and a $4,000 asset test, could become a starting point for discussions. This is stricter than current SNAP rules in about half the states but a portion of the resulting savings could be plowed back into increased federal support for job training.

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Again the state experience is relevant — as seen in the case of Wisconsin.

Not waiting for Washington, Republican Gov. Scott Walker is pushing ahead with a plan to cut off food stamp benefits for able-bodied adults without dependents who fail to work at least 20 hours a week. But Walker is taking a measured approach that allows continued exemptions for very high unemployment areas and he has been willing to commit state funds to provide training opportunities for those not able to find work.

The most recent estimates are that Wisconsin’s SNAP program, known as FoodShare, currently enrolls 103,100 individuals listed as Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents (ABAWD).. Of this number, an estimated 62,700 are expected to not meet the 20 hour a week work requirement, and the assumption is about half these will take advantage of training slots.

In August, Wisconsin budgeted $16.8 million for the program which would begin to kick in next summer. Kitty Rhoades, Walker’s secretary of human services, said her hope is to provide a set of job search, education, and work experience options but implicit in her total $35.8 million plan is that Washington will provide funds matching the state commitment.

“We’re out here doing our own thing,” Rhoades told POLITICO. And the former state legislator shrugged off any linkage between Wisconsin’s initiative and the debate back in Congress. “You mentioned a senator, Southerland?” she asked. “I don’t know that name.”

Wisconsin’s support for employment training stands out when compared to some other states such as Oklahoma and Ohio which are also ending the recession-era waivers.

Oklahoma appears to be going cold turkey: an estimated 233,000 beneficiaries in the ABAWD category will be evaluated over the coming months but no additional funding is provided for training, according to the state’s Department of Human Services.

Ohio’s counties, which administer the SNAP program on behalf of the state, are expected to have about $8.2 million in federal and state funds available to them. But Ohio has not made the same training pledge as Wisconsin—this despite the fact that it was Gov. John Kasich who authored the ABAWD work rules as a Republican congressman in 1996.

The great Catch-22 in all this is that the same pledge funds pursued by Wisconsin are now capped at just $20 million annually. And six states already consume this account: New York, Texas, South Dakota, Utah, Delaware and Colorado.

That helps illustrate the stakes in the farm bill: could Congress increase this and other employment and training aid as part of a compromise on food stamps?

“This is about more than numbers,” said Peterson. “Everybody is focused on how many dollars it saves and not looking at the policy.”